Microsoft did not copy Miis

[Kermi]

I tried to post this a few days ago but the forums were broken and posting replies wasn't working, so i'll try and recap what I saw saying from memory.

The claim that this guy invented the concept avatars in general is laughable, and even if we do just accept his claim that 4D boxing was the debut of human representations in video games (a claim I'd want to research before taking at face value, myself) there are undeniable design similarities between the Miis and NXE avatars. Even if Microsoft invented avatars, they still copied Miis to some extent while updating the 360 dashboard.
And they're even less usefully implemented, at least so far, which is disappointing to say the least.
Sony seem to have circumvented all this drama by making their Home avatar designs and even the creation system painstakingly awful.

But this is hardly the first time one company has ripped off another and then taken credit for the original idea. Didn't Sony claim Nintendo were copying their idea to implement motion-sensitive controllers in their next console? Despite the Wii-mote being designed, developed and announced well before the SixAxis controller? And for all its limitations, isn't the Wiimote still a better motion controller than the SixAxis?

Nintendo did all the groundbreaking this gen, Microsoft and Sony tacked on ideas after having their graphics and processing power pissing contest. Too bad the Wii library is so shit.

 

[Rajin Cajun]

Lets all just agree that everyone ripped off D&D and should be tar and feathered, run over with a buick and then drawn and quartered. Thus allowing everyone to be happy...because everyone is dead.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

"Hey, you know what would be cool? If our players could make an avatar for themselves. Like a display pic, but more personal."
"Yeah, that'd be cool, but it'd be a lot of work and players might see it as a gimmick."
"Oh, good point."

Wiis come along

"Hey, look! Nintendo have shown that people do like avatars!"
"Oh, yeah! Right, we can go through with our plan!"

Just because Nintendo did it first does not mean Microsoft/Rare did not at some point think of it. Nintendo are very good at taking risks at actually trying stuff, but chances are both Sony and Microsoft have considered most of that stuff already. So, yeah, it is quite plausible that MS thought of it before Wiis, they just capitalised on Nintendo acting as a guinea pig.

 

[JediMB]

Oh, give me a break.

Microsoft copied Nintendo's Miis after seeing the Wii's success. Anyone who says otherwise needs to clean out the bullshit they have stuck between their teeth.

Also, Sony copied the motion sensitivity thing from Nintendo, while managing to completely miss why Nintendo chose to implement it the way they did. They also claimed that they'd been working on that since long before Nintendo announced the Wiimote, despite the fact that Sony reps were quoted mocking the Wii's motion sensitivity "gimmick" when it was first shown.

And Sony copied Microsoft's Achievements system with their Trophies. Probably because they realized that Achievement Whores(tm) were likely to choose the 360 version of a game over the PS3 version if they owned both systems, and that it would most likely generate additional sales from people who'd pick up games they weren't even interested in just to unlock the points that came with them.


Wanna know someone who genuinely DID have an idea that was implemented by the Wii long before it was announced? I did. I actually predicted that the Wii would play retro games all the way back to the NES. I called it the "Nintendo Retro Revolution".

But I digress.

Please just stop it with the defensive bullshit. Both Microsoft and Sony have copied innovative ideas from the competition, but I can't really say that it's a bad thing anymore. If all three hardware giants improve upon and add their own flavor to ideas that originated from their competitors, the NEXT generation of video game consoles could turn out interesting indeed.

 

[shadowcypher]

Truth is, microsoft have never released a truly original product; most of their computer stuff is ripped off apple, and most xbox stuff is a hash of what their competitors make

To set this straight.. Microsoft didnt rip off Apple. Apple SOLD the rights for an icon-based GUI to Microsoft

 

[y8c616]

Truth is, microsoft have never released a truly original product; most of their computer stuff is ripped off apple, and most xbox stuff is a hash of what their competitors make

To set this straight.. Microsoft didnt rip off Apple. Apple SOLD the rights for an icon-based GUI to Microsoft

well mabye its not stictly ripping off then, just lack of originality

 

[The Wooster]

At least that is what Mark Betteridge of Rare (the Microsoft owned studio that designed the New Xbox Experience's "Avatars") claims in an interview [http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3171143] with 1UP.

1UP: You were saying that the Avatars are something totally new and unique for Rare, but going back to what I asked earlier about the perceptions of Rare copying Nintendo's ideas, some could say Avatars are just Rare's spin on the Mii.

MB: Yeah, I think it's probably going to be a surprise to people that we had this concept before the Wii even existed. I'm talking about the hardware, never mind the Miis and everything else.

It sounds entirely plausible to me and I'm inclined to believe it. It annoys me to see so many people claiming that Microsoft just saw the Wii's success and thought "MUST COPEE NUW!!!!!11" especially with avatars (no capitalization) being an almost universal gaming conceit and customizing said avatars being a common idea long before Miis were first conceived.

I'm interested to hear other opinions on this matter although this is mostly "I don't think MS's Avatars are Mii rip-offs. Here's proof."

I'm going to put this one down to wishful thinking mate. Like ps3 owners arguing that Trophies are totally not a rip off of Achievements or that the PS3's motion controls weren't implemented to help the console compete against the wii, your arguments seem a bit flat. Sure the concept of digital avatars is ancient but Microsoft's implementation of them matches Nintendo's almost exactly. Even if they did come up with the concept 'ages and ages' ago (which is doubtful in my opinion) it doesnt' change the fact that they only chose to implement them after Nintendo's success with the Miis. Same goes for the ps3 and trophies.

That being said the bigger question, I think, is "Does it fucking matter" as an owner of all three consoles I like to see popular concepts from one console making an appearance on another because not only because the original idea is good, but because it also puts preasure on the original company to keep the idea fresh in order to compete.

 

[FireFly90]

You know ps3 owners right now are laughing at this argument. Im not saying that ps3 is better, im just saying ps3 owners, whether they like it or not, have this warm moist feeling inside.

 

[hypothetical fact]

You know ps3 owners right now are laughing at this argument. Im not saying that ps3 is better, im just saying ps3 owners, whether they like it or not, have this warm moist felling inside.

Why, and why is the feeling moist?

 

[FireFly90]

You know ps3 owners right now are laughing at this argument. Im not saying that ps3 is better, im just saying ps3 owners, whether they like it or not, have this warm moist feeling inside.

Why, and why is the feeling moist?

'Warm moist feeling' is a phrase Clarkson used instead of smug, i thought i could pull it off too, but obviously i was wrong.

 

[Vigormortis]

Let's face it. The big MS copied Nintendo's Miis and followed that up with copying Sony's UI. Think about it. Single line of "icons" that scroll in one direction, then you scroll in a perpendicular direction for the sub-menues. Right out of everything Sony makes from the PoS3 and PoSP to their televisions.